The invention is related to a method for controlling the operation of a refrigerator, and particularly, a control method for controlling the operation of a refrigerator using a current sensor.
Hereinafter, the term `current sensor` is used to describe any of a plurality of elements having a variable resistance value, such as a photoconductive cell and a thermistor, which is capable of detecting change of the current value according to the variation of its resistance value.
It is well known that the technique of using a current sensor may be adapted to various fields. A typical prior art apparatus is described in Japan Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-78875.
A refrigerator disclosed in Publication No. Sho 63-78875 comprises a high speed freezing apparatus including a freezing compartment, a fresh food storage storage compartment, a compressor and an evaporator of a cooling system, a blow fan for forcibly blowing cooling air into the freezing compartment and the fresh food storage compartment, means for detecting the temperature of external ambient air, and a high speed freezing switch for forcing the compressor and the fan to be operated. In the disclosed apparatus, the external ambient air sensor detects the ambient air temperature at a predetermined time after the actuation of the high speed freezing switch. At that time, if the ambient air temperature is below a predetermined ambient air temperature, the high speed freezing/refrigerating operation of the compressor and blow fan is stopped. If the ambient air temperature is over a predetermined ambient air temperature, the high speed freezing/ refrigerating operation is restarted. However, this prior art refrigerator only adjusts its operation with respect to the high speed freezing/refrigerating function, and does not relate to a technique for controlling the entire system.
Typically, conventional refrigerators have been operated according to functions set by the user which are independent of the frequency of its door use. That is to say, the conventional refrigerator may be properly cooled during the day when refrigerator use is relatively high. The same conventional refrigerator will be overly cooled during the night when refrigerator use is lower. Therefore, the conventional refrigerator has the problem that a large amount of power will be wasted during period of low usage, and during this period the normal operation of the fan motor causes an unnecessary amount of noise due to friction or clashes between a fan wing and air.
In view of these problems, it is known that after any one or a plurality of parameters for a refrigerator are determined, a control system of a refrigerator controls a load corresponding to each of load parameters to be controlled, so that a refrigerator may be effectively controlled.